Thoughts on why Delta doesnt do International upgrades
Jan 14, 2019, 11:59 am
#31
Join Date: Sep 2012
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One of the many differences between international J and domestic F/J is that a very large percentage of those in paid international J easily meet the MQD threshold for DM. If you’re buying peak international J fares, often two R/Ts will get you to $15k in MQDs, and it would rarely be more than four. Given that many paid international J fares likely easily qualify for DM, it seems clear that Delta would be wary of offering complimentary medallion upgrades on these routes. If you have a bunch of people that do 2-4 R/Ts in paid J early in the year and then start taking their chances on upgrades, that could turn into a serious RM problem. This is not the case with paid domestic F, where it would often take at least 10 R/Ts to get to $15k MQD.
Moreover, Deta probably figures that if there are a few (or several) empty D1 seats on international routes, it adds to the exclusivity of the experience and hence makes it easier to continue charging high prices. That said, I’ve done a lot of international D1 and remember few if any empty seats.
Moreover, Deta probably figures that if there are a few (or several) empty D1 seats on international routes, it adds to the exclusivity of the experience and hence makes it easier to continue charging high prices. That said, I’ve done a lot of international D1 and remember few if any empty seats.
Jan 14, 2019, 12:02 pm
#32
Join Date: Sep 2012
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Here’s another consideration: GUCs are a strong incentive for many to earn Diamond. If there were complementary upgrades, the incentive could be somewhat weakened (realizing of course that DMs would still have priority for complementary upgrades).
Jan 14, 2019, 12:13 pm
#33
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Also reduces incentive to upfare to a K+ fare for the possibility of mileage upgrades.
Jan 14, 2019, 12:35 pm
#34
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Why doesn't Delta do upgrades on international flights. For instance a recent trip from MSP-AMS had literally every seat, except for 2, OPEN in Delta one. I can understand wanting to sell the seats but you would think they would do upgrades 1 hour from departure or something. With 20+ seats open it was a very very small chance or selling out at the last minute.
Thoughts?
Thoughts?
Second factor that I may have missed but don't think I saw it in the thread yet is employee compensation. Many employees take advantage of non-rev travel in the premium cabin to travel internationally in their time off, which those, especially with seniority, often take frequent advantage of. This allows DL to give a benefit that is perceived as valuable to the employee with little extra material cost to DL as the product was going to spoil anyway. If DL starts giving away J seats to Medallions on int'l flights and employees are then unable to use this benefit, you can bet the employees will likely demand far more compensation and pay which would have a much higher cost to DL.
Jan 14, 2019, 1:20 pm
#35
Join Date: May 2015
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Those will almost all certainly go to non-revs.
Jan 14, 2019, 5:21 pm
#37
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Jan 14, 2019, 5:57 pm
#39
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Jan 14, 2019, 7:29 pm
#40
Join Date: Jan 2019
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I have had varying degrees of success with both KLM and AF for GUC. They are waitlisted at booking, sometimes months in advance. Had better success with GUCs on Delta metal from a confirmation perspective.
Seems like the partnership elements sometimes has different rules...
Seems like the partnership elements sometimes has different rules...
Jan 15, 2019, 1:58 am
#41
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Jan 15, 2019, 3:30 am
#42
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Jan 15, 2019, 9:05 am
#43
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Jan 15, 2019, 9:52 am
#44
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And honestly, the answer to the question of "why they do them on every other flight" is "because of dumb decisions made decades ago that we can't undo without infuriating tons of people". Eventually that's going to be undone too, if not de jure the de facto via FCM.
One other thing to remember - a lot of people love to complain about the quality of cabin crews - if international D1 seats start going to elites for free and employees can't get them when non-revving, you're going to see a decrease in cabin crew quality.
Jan 15, 2019, 10:25 am
#45
Join Date: Apr 2005
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As many have noted, it's to protect the stature/perceived value of the brand/protect .
Similar to a luxury brand rarely discounting their product, or selling them far below retail value, or finding them in the clearance aisle at Marshall's/TJ Maxx.
Giving upgrades away for a product they charge X times more than economy means they won't be able to keep it at the perceived value (even if one has Titanium Diamond status). Allowing upgrade instruments to be used gives frequent flyers a sense of value for their flying loyalty.
Do a search for this topic on any of the Big 3 carriers and you'll see this topic discussed plenty of times in the past.
Similar to a luxury brand rarely discounting their product, or selling them far below retail value, or finding them in the clearance aisle at Marshall's/TJ Maxx.
Giving upgrades away for a product they charge X times more than economy means they won't be able to keep it at the perceived value (even if one has Titanium Diamond status). Allowing upgrade instruments to be used gives frequent flyers a sense of value for their flying loyalty.
Do a search for this topic on any of the Big 3 carriers and you'll see this topic discussed plenty of times in the past.
